Complex Societies, Common Schools and Curriculum: Separate is not Equal.

This paper focuses on the issue of separate schooling. Diverse societies use schools to develop shared value systems, strengthen democratic engagements and provide better educational outcomes. However, in Europe, the United States, Australia and elsewhere groups of parents and communities have been invoking human rights claims to challenge the state, often successfully, to demand separate schools for their children or the right to send their children to a school of their choosing, irrespective of the consequences for society at large. Yet do such separate schools reflect an increased respect for the rights of minorities and a commitment to help them reach their full potential? Do they help remove marginalization and can they ever lead to the establishment of stable and peaceable communities? Or do they undermine societal commitments to intergroup harmony and perpetuate stereotypes, racism and ethnocentric thinking? Do they keep existing inequalities in place and deny young people the opportunities they need to become full-fledged members of society? It is argued here that regardless of location, separate schools are part of the problem, not the solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]